Naming Promises
by paperbin
Summary: Promise?" she asked, her eyes shining. He laughed and shook her pinky. "Promise." "I want to fly! I want to use my wings!" she exclaimed, shaking her feathers into a neat line. "I know. Someday. Promise."


_Making and Breaking: Promises till the End_

**1. Naming Promises**

**2. Breaking Promises**

**3. Making Promises**

**4. Kissing Promises**

**5. Ink Promises**

**6. Paper Promises**

**7. Little Promises**

**8. Dark Promises**

**9. Last Promises**

**10. Forever Promised **

**Naming Promises**

**Summary: A part of the New Promises Series. Stories will come out extremely slowly. **

"**Promise?" she asked. He smiled and shook her pinky. "Promise." **

That was the first thing he ever said to her.

"I'll get you out, I **promise**." the man in the white coat with the graying hair and glasses to the girl with the golden brown hair and dark brown eyes crouched in the too-small dog crate.

She had always regarded him with suspicion as he visited her every day. But one day, something broke.

"Is that my name?" she asked, looking up at him, her forehead puckered with the effort of thought. "Promise?" He just shook his head. "No. You can make one up by yourself. But you have yourself a promise."

The word felt unfamiliar and new to her. _Promise_. **Promise**_**. Promise. **_Promise. She whispered the word. It felt good on her lips and tongue. It rolled off, lacy and delicate.

"What do you want to be called?" he asked her every day. She always shook her head. "I don't know. Promise?" And he always smiled back in a patient way and replied the same way every time. "Promise."

It was a like an unspoken pact between them. A promise. It bonded them in a way so she trusted him completely. She spent every day, wondering what her name should be, so that the man wouldn't have to call her Promise anymore.

And then one day, it came out, blurted on her unforgiving tongue. He asked her, like every day. "What do you want to be called?" She shook her head. "I don't know…" And then the name, two words she thought would have worked, flitted out. "Maximum Ride."

He seemed to be shocked for a while. Then he regained his senses and smiled, a real full-blown grin this time. "I can understand the Maximum, but why the Ride?"

And then she was talking again, bold and brazen. Spilling the beans with her fast-talking mouth, "Sally Ride, the astronaut; I want to be just like her."

The man smiled again, a crooked one this time. "Well, now that you've found your name, you can find mine. It's Jeb. Jeb Batchelder." She furrowed her forehead, "Jeb I can understand," she repeated, "But why Batchelder?" Then she smirked, her signature smile, bold and brazen, just like her.

He laughed, long and loud. "There's no use wise-cracking, Maximum. But you can just call me Jeb." She looked at him with her brown eyes. "Promise?" He hooked her pinky with his. "Yes, a promise."

**Sometime After—**

It happened after one experiment. Looking outside, running from the Erasers. There was a bird on the fence. A sort of swift or something, with tinges of black, silver, and a beautiful gold running through its sleek feathers.

The Eraser behind her snarled and she knew she only had seconds left to enjoy the beauty. As the race started, the bird suddenly unfurled its wings and took off, its wings pumping powerfully, carrying it at immeasurable speeds.

She gasped. "Oh!" it came out as a sound. The Eraser laughed, a harsh grating sound. "Keep looking, freak, because that's the most you're going to see in your life." Then it growled and launched at her, claws clicking and teeth snapping.

She came to her senses and began running until all her fears zoomed away and there was only the exhilarating high of the wind rushing against your face. She could no longer hear the slavering of the Eraser, just the beating of her heart and the soft pads of her bare feet. She passed the test with flying scores.

But later when Jeb came to visit her again, she spoke her thoughts, the little buzzing of hope when she saw the bird.

"I want to fly."

He just looked at her with his gray eyes and a sad, wistful smile on his lips. "I know." She pushed him further. "Well, why can't I?" He sighed. "Some things aren't so simple, Maximum."

"Why can't you get me out _now_? I want to fly! I want to use my wings!" came the impatient reply. The scientist softened. "When the time is right, Maximum, promise."

She scowled, her signature frown, a glare and a snarl mixed together. "It isn't Maximum, it's Max. Maximum's too stuffy, like the other whitecoats."

Jeb raised his eyebrows now with an amused glance, "Max, now, hmm? Maximum suits you better. That way, you'll never forget what you're supposed to be." He reached through the bars and tickled her gently.

She giggled and scrunched into a tight ball, nearly breaking the scientist's hand with the force, although she didn't nearly know it. He winced and drew his hand back. "What's that, Jeb?"

"The best. You were born to be the best."

**Still Later—**

"Jeb," she interrupted him in mid-thought, "I want to see the others." He jerked up. "_Who_?" "The _others_." she repeated edgily. Why did she have to repeat that over and over? "Who are the others?" Jeb asked carefully and she rolled her eyes. "The blonde boy and the African-American girl. _Duh." _

He frowned, "You weren't supposed to—how'd you meet them?" She growled impatiently, "On the _treadmills_!" The scientist was suddenly interested, "What level was it? How long?"

"Level 10, and for 8 hours straight. And then there was this boy next to me and he had bulges in the back of his shirt and he said that there was another girl with him. When can I _meet them_?"

Jeb suddenly seemed interested in the linings of his white coat, "I'll take you to see them in a few weeks, if that's what you want."

She did a little sitting-down dance in her cage. "Yes! I want to see the others!" He smiled, "Yes, you will sometime soon." The avian hybrid was suddenly suspicious, "Just like you were supposed to break me out?"

He grimaced, "That comes after. We want to see who is of value and who isn't." The girl narrowed her eyes, "So is that it? The people who aren't good enough die?" The scientist shook his head, "That's part of the real world, Maximum, people are born and then they die."

"Well, _I don't want any part of it_. I'd rather not be broken out if the others die." She turned her head away in a silent sulk. "Besides, it's no fun with two people. I want to see others. I want to make friends! I want to fly."

Jeb smiled one heartwarming small smile. "It's necessary, Maximum. We don't want the people, who are weak to die outside, do we? And if you want to, we can see if you like the other hybrids, we'll take them with us." She instantly perked up. "Really? I can make friends with them?"

He laughed, "Yes. You can make friends with them." The sulk instantly forgotten, 6-year old Maximum Ride hopped up, nearly banging her head on the bars. "REALLY!? They can escape with us? And we'll live together forever and ever?"

"Yes, if that's the way you want it, Maximum."

"It's _Max_. But really? Do you promise? Pinky-promise? Promise?"

Two pinkies curled together in a childish bond.

"Promise."


End file.
